`28 Days Later' gains its strength from its remarkable human approach in the wake of such horrific events.

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2003)

Let's face some facts about the today's horror genre-it sucks! With moronic plot sequences accompanied by the worst bred actors, the level of expectation with such films is low. However, Danny Boyle (`Trainspotting') has brought moviegoers something new, yet almost traditional in the sense of horror films; a zombie thriller called `28 Days Later.' By using good actors, an amateur format for the cinematography and a decent story, Boyle gives us something that is not only horrific, but also terrifying in the very notions of its story. `28 Days Later' tells the story of a man named Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes up in a hospital one morning, only to find that the world he knows has turned upside down. What's more, there appears to be no one around. Jim soon realizes that the human race has been taken over by a plague that turns people into zombies. He then finds some survivors; one named Selena (Naomie Harris) who tells of the events that have transpired. In particular, how the virus is spread, through blood and other human secretions. As they search the city, they find an apartment building with holiday lights in the windows. They enter the building and find a few more survivors, a man named Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns). While there, they hear a recording on a hand radio that tells any survivors to come to Manchester for help and 'the answer to infection.' But when they arrive in Manchester, they find more than they can handle. It's easy to admire Boyle for his great direction on this picture. The amateur film format is really the best trick up this director's sleeve. Because the print of film has a videotape appearance, it makes the movie appear raw and rough to watch. The camera, during suspense shots, is always shaking which gives the audience an almost dizzying feel to watching the movie. With the dizzying feel of the film, it also makes the story seem more real. That's where the real horror sets in-how incredibly real the film appears. Regardless of the notions of zombies, the idea of a plague, which in this case was manmade, administered to monkeys that got out of hand and harmed their trainers turning them into zombies appears in a realistic way. The very opening of the film centers around a break-in to an animal facility that houses these mad-apes and a botched attempt to destroy them. After that, for a few minutes we see news footage of rioting and complete social unrest in the wake of the plague as it hits the whole of England; something that could certainly happen when a society is faced with an unstoppable force. The acting in the film was very good. Murphy and Harris are great in their roles as survivors looking for an answer to the infection. But real credit has to be given to Gleeson for his role as Frank, a father trying to save his young daughter from the dangers that exist in their world now. We feel his pain as he tries to make his daughter feel like things are going to be all right. He does this by stringing up Christmas lights in their apartment window and binge shopping in a grocery store. In the end, `28 Days Later' gains its strength from its remarkable human approach in the wake of such horrific events, however, absurd as they may be. It's a great change in pace for lovers of horror films, not consumed by the commercialism that ruins most entertainment these days. ***